Pilgrims with New Jersey ties celebrate canonizations

Jim Manfredonia grew up and went to Catholic school in Bogota. But as the years went on, he strayed from his faith.

That’s why Sunday’s canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII were particularly meaningful to the chief executive officer and co-founder of Domestic Church Media, a New Jersey-based Catholic radio station that is looking to open a third station in North Jersey this year. Manfredonia organized a pilgrimage to Rome with about 45 of his radio station’s members to experience firsthand the historic events, which were extra rare as two living popes were present for the ceremonies.

Manfredonia had held a corporate position with FedEx for a number of years, and he was not active with the Catholic faith in which he was raised. But after reading Pope John Paul II’s writings from the early 1990s, particularly “The Splendor of Truth,” Manfredonia said he rediscovered his faith.

“He really kind of lit a fire under me,” Manfredonia said.

Manfredonia, who lives in Bucks County, Pa., then left the corporate world and began Domestic Church Media, which opened its first station in the Trenton area in 2008.

“Personally, for me, it was very special to be here because it was a wonderful culmination of my relationship with John Paul,” Manfredonia said, adding, “His elevation to sainthood makes it even more special to me because I believe with all my heart he’s praying for us and the work we do.”

Manfredonia and his wife had been to Rome many times, but Manfredonia said he had never experienced such large crowds as Sunday’s for the ceremonies.

The group went on another pilgrimage to Rome last year, and by chance happened to snag a spot in St. Peter’s Square for the unexpected election of Pope Francis.

But despite planning and coordinating their trip for the canonization ceremonies this year, the group was unable to watch live from the square.

The group arrived in Italy on Saturday evening. Despite being tired and worn from traveling, they woke around midnight to wait outside St. Peter’s Square in anticipation of Sunday’s ceremonies, but many pilgrims had been camping outside for days already, said Gabriella Furmato, a Seton Hall theology graduate student and radio personality at Domestic Church Media, who is from Farmingdale. There were times while waiting for the square to open to pilgrims early in the morning that she could not even lift her arms because of all the waiting people packed around her, she said.

By 8 in the morning, the group, jet-lagged and lacking sleep from staying up all night, realized they would not make it into the square because of the sheer number of people who had flocked to the Vatican for the historic day. Instead, they watched and listened to the ceremony from their hotel. The group still has about a week in the city to take their listeners — many of whom shared with them prayers to bring to the Vatican — around the city’s historic sites.

Furmato said witnessing crowds of people singing, chanting and waving banners in the streets has reinvigorated her love for the Catholic Church, just as the surprise naming of Pope Francis did about a year earlier.

“I enjoyed meeting people from all over the world, seeing how we are united in Christ,” Furmato said.

For Manfredonia, while last year’s election was a surprise the group was fortunate to witness, the group still felt the universality of the Catholic Church by witnessing the masses that had — like them — traveled from far and wide.

“We allowed ourselves to really meld into it and become a part of it,” Manfredonia said.